Live Magazine, February 2020.
It sounds crazy but when we someday send people to live in
space, their homes may be inside mushrooms.
As NASA makes plans for such
journeys, a major consideration is where the astronauts will live. One possibility the US space
agency is exploring is "growing" habitats using fungi.
"Right now, traditional habitat designs for Mars are
like a turtle—carrying our homes with us on our backs," NASA researcher Lynn
Rothschild said in a statement.
While the plan is reliable, the energy costs
are huge. As an alternative, astronauts may be able to grow homes using mycelia, unseen threads inside of fungi
such as mushrooms.
In January NASA posted a video showing how the idea would
work.
Researchers are picturing homes with three layers. The outer layer would
consist of water and ice. A middle layer would hold bacteria that produces
oxygen. In the inner layer, fungus would grow around a frame to create a habitat
that humans could live in.
It is a technology that could truly mushroom in the
future.